There are a couple of things that you have to think about when you use your GigPig in order to get the most out of it and also some things you need to remember to be extra careful with so that it will not be damaged.
To optimise the features and functions:
Sound:
- In order to get the most crispy sound out of the snares two things are important.
A. Make sure that the lower snare head is extremely high pitched and tightly tensed. If you get the feeling it is “hard as glass” you are on the right track.
B. If you have the GigPig standing on a rug or a carpet to prevent it from slipping away from you when you play, the soft texture of the underlay will absorb the “crispy-ness” from thesnare sound. To avoid this you can either tie the GigPig by its rare corner leg to your drum chair leg to avoid the GP from sliding away from you instead of using the soft underlay or you can put a hard sheet of some kind on the carpet right under the snares. This will reflect the characteristic high frequency snare tones from the snare head under the GigPig to the listener.
- We found that a microphone INSIDE the snare drum gave an astonishing rich result. The little hole between the snare drum chamber and the bass drum is for the microphone cord.
- I you want a more “fat”, warm sound from your bass drum we advice you to either dampen the head from the inside with some fluffy material like foam rubber or a pillow against the head or to attach some cover like duct tape or a rubber pad where the mallet hits or/and in the periphery of the head here you can use moon gel too. You can also try one of the more extreme thick calf imitation heads or real calf skin.
- To obtain balanced sound between the 6” tom and the 8” tom it can be advantageous to dampen the 8” a little while the 6” else is will sound much shorter due to the small size in combination with the asymmetric sound chamber. This can also be solved by a thorough tuning if you have the patience.
- The side toms, whether you have a 10” single tom or a 10 + 12” double tom, has a technical “complication” built in to them. In order to avoid “over-hearing” between the 8” tom on the cabinet and the 10” tom on the side we had to create a asymmetric hole under the side toms to serve as an acoustic “shadow”. This automatically creates another problem, namely that there is an inherent unbalance within the drum itself (goes for both 10 and 12”) so they will be almost impossible to tune to one pure tone but they have a tendency to vibrate slightly however much you poke around with
the tuning key. Simplest remedy is to put a strip of duct tape (what would we do without duct tape ( some would say “ a better world” :-( )) or moon gel on the underside of the head just in the middle of the triangular hole. This will smoothen out the unbalance and make the head easy to tune. To even out the “leap” of sound character between the 10” side tom and the 8” tom on the cabinet you can try a duct tape strip on the 8“ tom too.
- If it occurs a high overtone when you are tuning the snare drum, there are to simple possible remedies; either you tune one of the tuning screws “off “(loose it almost entirely) or you can use some regular dampening material.
Technical remarks and features.
- You can tilt the GigPig from and towards you to quite a large extent, this allows you to find your own favourite playing position. To do this, you loosen the pedal hinges from the cabinet slightly and the two legs in the corners so that they can slide freely up and down. When you have found your own favourite tilting angle to play in, you block the leg closest to you and thereafter the front leg and at last – which is important - the pedal heels. This is important to
avoid any weight to be carried by the pedal heels. The weight of the GigPig must rest ONLY on the two quick adjustable legs, the adjustable threaded leg by the bass pedal corner and the wheel by the hi-hat. NOT ON THE PEDAL
HEELS. If you let the pedal heels carry any weight by adjusting the legs wrongly , there is a risk that the GigPig will lurch as you play. Use the leg in the corner closest to you as a “memory lock” to easily find your personal leaning angle the next time you are playing.
- To have the GigPig work as smooth and mechanically silent as possible it is good to spray a little lubricant on all moving parts such as the bass drum axle where it passes through the black nylon bearings and the hi-hat rod also where it goes through the two nylon guides. Same for the pedal hinges, the bass pedal spring hook, the snare throw off and all the
threaded parts like wing screws and tuning screws. Don't forget to put little drop under the washers of the tuning screws too.
- The bass pedal mechanism is extremely flexible so that you can make the action of it change a lot, everything from the hight of the pedal to the attack angle of the mallet and the spring tension can be varied. You can alter the hole where both the chain and the spring is attached to the chain wheel. The position of the leg under the GigPig by the bass pedal can regulate the action range of the pedal too. On the latest models there are an extra pair of holes for the
curved spring holder so can move it to a more forward position to obtain an even longer bass mallet action.
- When you attach the bass drum mallet and decide to use the felt side, make sure that the surface that hits the head is parallel to the head and that the shaft is in its highest position so that the low end of the shaft is in flush with the nether surface of the shaft holder. This gives you the best swing and power to the bass pedal. If it sits lower it will play softer, try out what suits you the best.
- Mounting and dismounting of the side tom: the side tom must be held so that it always is parallel to the top surface where it shall rest whilst you shove and let it slide in to its position. NEVER wiggle it up or down out of it´s bearing, it must ALWAYS remain parallel to the top surface during the procedure.
- When you mount a double tom (10'' + 12” tom) make sure that the rubber support knob fits into the “handle hole” during the process and flip it down when you are ready. Please note that the rubber support knob can be removed and inside it you will find a screw which allows you to regulate the angle of the double tom slightly.
- Note that the metal tom holder functions as a rim click.
- Try not to over tight the wing screws on the GigPig.
- Never lift the GigPig in any of it´s three cymbal arms.
- Do not turn the cymbal arm without loosening the positioning wing screw by the cabinet.
- The small hole between the heads on the top surface is made to let the Hi-Hat top rod sit there during transport. The larger hole with rounded edge is made for microphone cables and has continuing holes in the middle floor and the bottom to let the cables come out under the GigPig.
The GigPig is a own willing little creature that needs some caring and understanding but
don't let all these words scare you, just embrace your GigPig and I know that you will have a
lot of fun with it. We are always there for you.
